Status Updates From War in the East: A Military...

There existed a feeling that once the chips were down, the British government would perceive it to be in its interests to stand by the Porte (after the Crimea, it usually did). Perhaps crucially, the Turks believed that they would be calling Russia's bluff. St. Peterburg's financial problems were well known while Miliutin's army reforms still had some way to go.

The Russians were already determined on taking action, provided that is, that they could do so without most of the rest of Europe lining up against them, as had accoured at the start of the Crimean war.